The Art Gallery. THE trustees of the gallery have decided to spend something like £20,000 in completing and decor ating the exterior of the building. This is a tall amount but nothing compared with the amount al ready spent on art in this colony already, to say nothing of the thousands and tens of thousands that are spent in other colonies and countries on the same object. Usage justifies this expenditure, and therefore would the erection be justifiable of Mr. O'Sullivan's glorious conception "Australia facing the Dawn?" This idea has been ridiculed in many quar ters, but that is not because the conception is faulty, it is because some people cannot appreciate a good thing when they see it. The truth is, the statue would be one of the sights of the world, but in these prosaic days of economy we cannot overlook the fact that to do the thing properly would cost something approaching £30,000. ' . . ,

FARM AND DAIRY. On coming along past liower Fortland last week, in a spot where no one would expect to find veget ables, the writer ran across a splen did experimental plot belonging to Slr. W. Newall. The garden is an. excellent demonstration of what can be done bj perseverance and proper attention to the land. Mr. Newall has been experimenting with man ures and irrigation and has been most successful in forming one of the best gardens we have seen on the river. Whilst the writer was present, a new variety of potatoes were dug, the name of which we forget, but whch are, however, of excellent quality, being very large and light in colour. We understand Slr. Newall intends keeping the crop for seed, and the fact of them being ripe two weëké before the Early Bose, should be sufficient to recommend them to farmers on the river, who, we feel sure, could pro cure some of the.seed on application to Mr. Newall. Other ^varieties of potatoes of excellent quality are also to be seen on the pl...

Flowery, Imaginings. THU Hon. Ted O'Sullivan in a re cent speeech at Goulburn drew a beautiful picture of the wonders which were to be wrought in their time. Boads and railways were a mere flea-bite, not only was every town in the colony to have railway communication, a bridge over its river, and new public buildings galore, but next session the Govern ment were going to pass " a com prehensive scheme of water con servation and irrigation " (where have we heard that phrase before). That this " comprehensive scheme " would cost some millions of money was a fact that the Minister for Works treated with a sublime con tempt, but the matter was not a cabinet promise as it turned out ; the good-natured easy going people of Goulburn are privileged to go to sleep that night, dream of compre hensive schemes, see beautiful visions of'ever-running rivers, ever verdant pastures, ever ripening crops i there were to be no more droughts, no more low prices, no more crop failures, all was to be bri...

The Blessings of Spirits. A OOBEESPONDENT Óf OD0 of the Dailies quotes extensively from the report of some eminent foreign Scientists, who points out the value of spirits as a cure for various seri ous diseases. Some of the less tem perate of our readers will regret to hear that the application is not to be internally, via the neck, but ex ternally, per medium of the old familiar wet bandage. Startling cures are announced, quite equal to the most wonderful patent medicine, cancer, consumption and such-like hitherto uncurable diseases have been got under by this old friend or bitter enemy-as the case may be. There is another matter which will not be pleasing to the untem perate invalid, for it cannot be sup posed that fine old Scotch will cure a man by outward application of a complaint which has grown upon him, notwithstanding a liberal sup ply of the alleged remedy internally. If it acts beneficially at all it will be probably in the case of men to whose system spirituous liquors a...

Australia Lagging Behind. THE Rey. Dr. Bevan is an excep tionally sensible man when talking on religious matters, but like most people when they leave their trade and try another, they make mistakes. The rev. gentleman in a recent lecture compared Austra lia with the system, their telegraph arrangements were perfect, nearly every hotel (how did he come, to know) had a telegraph office ; and other business arrangements equally complete. But the worthy divine who has recently returned thence, wanted to put the difference down to the difference between private enterprise and Government control; What"about population? Whë^ we have . 7Q,000 people we|sha|^ have a Wegfäh' «fäS'^&amp;Mffi the Doctor wUntelhem.; ;

THE TRANSVAAL WAR » A special court has been cons ti tuted at Kimberly with summar; jurisdiction over spies. Advocate Coater, killed a Elandslaagte, was an accom jpliflhed man, and a member of th Inner Temple. Lieutenant Barnes, who wa wounded at the battle of Elands laagte, is a brother of Violet Van tough, the well-known actress. When the Durham Light Inf an try left Aldershot, Lady Audrey Buller distributed papers in ever] compartment of the train. It is alleged that a number o: sporting rifles and express bullet? were found in the Boer camp al Elandslaagte, which has arousec indignation. ^ Among the sensational rumour* Bet afloat some time ago was th« assassination of General Buller, and tiie surrender of Mafeking and Ladysmith. The City Council has presented Colonel Otter, of the Canadier contingent, with £150, and every one of his officers with £25 and a pair of field-glasßes. The " Empire," a colonial publi cation, published in London, de scribes " Sir William Butler as the o...

In Search of Gold. _ By Hie Author of " A BU of Flotsam." CHAPIER IV.-THE HOSPITAL NURSE. ' I never knew a fellow,' continu Cecil, with so many. Everyc who knowe him loves old Ti They call him ' Surly Tim ' at t diggings ; but they love his gro better than another man's civilit ' He used not to be surly,' mi mured the nurse; and then, Cecil looked at her undisguis surprise, ' I have betrayed myse and I may as well be open wi you, for it could not go on. long time ago (it seems long, b it is only five or six years) I km Mr. Brown very well. I was, fact, engaged to him'-her voi dropped-1 and he is still dear me.' ' Indeed ?' Cecil began to dou whether he were not dreamii still. She was twisting her fingers ne vously, ond did not appear to I thinking of him. ' It is a difB.cu position to be in,' she said pr sently. ' Do you think I ought stay?' Cecil found his own position i the moment difficult, not to se awkward; such a revelation r speoting Tim, whom he had alwaj looked upon as a co...

THE HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE. Visit of the Minister for Works Hon. E. W. O'Sullivan makes a Personal Inspection. And Promises the Bridge. Saturday, 2nd December, will, for long time "to come, be looked upon as day brimful of good things, as far as ti residents of Bichmond and the snrrounc ing districts are concerned. On that da the long-promised visit of the Hon. I W. O'Sullivan, Minister for Works, wi nade, simply to have an opportunity &amp;lt; personally inspecting the present biidg and to decide as to whether the claim whieh hare been so consistently urged h ffr. Brinsley Hall and others during tb aat two monthB were just, or otherwisi Happily for ns, and for our fruitgrowen the hon, gentleman considered we ha good grounds for complaint and afU making a thorough inspection, under tl guidance of Mr. G. M. Pitt, of Nbrt Bichmond, decided that the bridge shoul be replaced by a much more useful, an len dangerous structure. The heat wt frightfully oppressive, the thermomet* registering ...

CHAPTER V.--LEISURE. To Cecil's relief the nurse too the initiative and responsibility int her own hands. When he wen upstairs she met him with her oui door things on. 11 have decided to go,* she sal quietly, and with a composure which surprised bim. ' You cai easily manage for to-night, and to morrow I will send you a very goo« substitute, also a doctor. The latte will be my affair. He is a clever rising young man, and will be glac to oblige me. There are certah things which might be attempted but whioh a nurse dare not risl doing, except under medical super vision. When he is sufficiently recovered, and using your own dis cretion as to the advisability of do ing it all'-her voice faltered i little-'I shall leave you this tc give him.' She handed him a s'ij of paper with her name and addresc upon it. 'No other explanation will be necessary. But even to thal much I do not bind you. There is another world, in which' - she {mused and looked at him inquiring, y, as though seeking wheth...

Business. James Hull, Saddle. Harness &amp; Collar Maker« HM come to Btop, and means to lead. No need to go to Sydney £or anything in the trade, as my prices are nuder Sydney prices. Boggy and Bulky Harness from £2 5s A real good set, solid nickel } ' mounts, equal to anything on V jg£ go sale in town at £6. J My SADDLE8 are the best made in the colony, A real good knee' and thigh bag-reather seat £2 10s. My hair-faced COLLARS, warranted to Btand any test, and a perfect fit, £1. Pipe Collars, 12s 6d; the same collars elsewhere, 16s. Plain round throat Collars, 10s.* At about half the priée charged by others and done as they should be. Bedwell's Axle Grease, 6d per tin. J. HULL, Late W. PRIMEÓSE, George-street, Windsor. Greenwells? S.S. MORAVIAN has ar rived with our Xa X RSV Spring Shipment. These Goods were Ordered before the Eise in the Market. JEyery Department ^Replenished..^ Splendid Value. Lowest Prices. We Invite Comparison. Top of the Tree for QUALITY and PRICE. North Ri...

MARSDEN P¿fe. u M (From our own correspondent.) A few residents of this district have been suffering from influenza. Mr. Walter Woodbridge has reached Hobart, en route for Syd ney from South Africa. j Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Ling and ] Miss Angle, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Angle, have been staying here for a short period. A gentleman, whose name is un known to the writer, preached in the local Presbyterian Church to a fair congregation. A good many residents attended the "send-off" concert tended to the retiring curate, the Rev. H. R. A. Wilson, on Wednesday evening the 29th Nov. Mr. Binks was losing so much wheat that he found it necessary to consult a chemist, and now he has poisonous grain on the fowl houses, and large numbers of dead sparrows is the result. We hare quite'a sparrow pest here ; they do not destroy "the fruit etc., but when it is time for feeding poultry they may be seen in num bers in waiting. The poultry farm ers here feed their stock principally on wheat j hence the...

. SACKVILLE. (From our own correspondent.) Kr. E. Kçmp hu « fine collection o bees, all of which are of a choice strain. Brigg's Bed Hay and several othe Varieties of the early peaches on lh&amp;lt; tíver «re jost about played ont, A. .concert and social are being ar fanged to take place in the Wesleyai Church on Boxing Night in aid of th« ; Church funds. Mr. John Turnbull has a splendic young citrus orchard coming on, whicl in a few years should be a most profitable one. . Ur. Alfred Turnbull ia beginning tc make his large farm look wefl, and be sides a big area of corn, has a splendid , bed of tomatoes which are coming along «rall, . '? Mr. James Watkins had some of the test early apricots on the river, and ob tained as much as six shillings per quarter Base for some, which shows they must have been of good quality. The river steamers have been doing a great trade during the past week or two with the early fruit. Besides other cargo the s.s. Hawkesbury brought up 2800 Cases on...

EBENEZER. (From our own correspondent.) Mrs. John Brown has been laid up with a serious attack of influenza during the past week or two. Mrs. Sanders, daughter of Mr. John Brown, sailed for Fiji last week, iu order to join her husband who is managing a sugar plantation at that place. Quite a new settlement is spring ing up along the road to Ebenezer, and in a few years instead of dense forest, one will find a string of com fortable little homesteads and orchards. During the past few years several now houses bave been erected, including those of Mr. E. Low aud Mr. A. G.. Brown, in each of which a nice young orchard is coming on. Tho latter has about 5 acres cleared, and planted with citrus fruit, and considering the trees were only put out in the spring, they look splendid, and are a guarantee that the soil is adapted for citrus fruits. The local Public School is at the present time in a deplorable state, and to say the least of it, is a dis grace to -the Department ; the white ants ...

FROM OUR EXCHANGES ? ' Switzerland enjoys the unenvi able distinction of having a larger percentage of lunatics than in any other country. The Government telegraph ser vice of Great Britian transmits, it is said, on the average 1,538,270 words a day to newspapers alone. Coffins in Russia are never covered with black. If the deceased is a child, pink is used ; if a woman, crimson ; though for a widow they use brown. Bed deer are becoming such a nuisance in some parts of the Wair arapa district (N.Z) that the Ac climatisation Society have decided, for a licence fee of £1, to allow stalkers to secure as many bead as they like. It is stated that last year on one station alone no fewer than 500 deer were shot. In the middle of 1899 the estimated population of Australasia was just over 4£ millions. New South Wales has a population of 1,346,000. The total gain of popu lation in Australasia since 1890 is 691,825, of which nearly one-third ie credited to New South Wales. Perth has grown from...

» LOWER POETLAND. (From our own correspondnt.) Messrs. M. B. and T. Herps are two of the biggest dairymen on the river, both having complete and up-to date dairying outfits on the premises. Mr. John Herps has the best crop of pumpkins we have seen about Portland, and with anything like favorable weather, the crop should be an early one, and thus a paying one. A lecture is ¿o be given iu the Wesleyan Church on Monday next, by the Kev. J. Tarn on the " Ex periences and Adventures of Dr. Livingstone." . As the subject will no doubt touch on that portion of South Africa, where the war is at present raging, it should.prove very interesting. Refreshments are to be handed round during the evening. Mr. 0. Stevenson, of Gosford, son of the famous scull-maker, is completing a boat for the river trade, which has been chartered by the H. S.N. Coy. for the fruit sea son. The boat is about 80 feet long, and is now in Sydney being fitted up with machinery, so that in another week or two the fruit ...

N.S.W. PATRIOTIC FUND. A Grand CONTINENTAL - BY THE - Residents of the Hawkesbury District - WILL BE HELD- ... AT THE RACE COURSE, CLARENDON, - ON THE EVENING OE - . l&amp;lt;f5tlx Inst* The Band of the N.S.W. Regiment of Royal Australian Artillery will play during the Evening. Attack . by a I 1 « on a BRITISH VOLLEY FIRING! THE TERRIBLE MACHINE GUN SPEAKS J ! BAYONET CHARGE AT THE FINISH! !! The toau it teas done at Gteneoe! Rule Britannia! Patriotic Songs byDistinguished Amateurs. Combined Puttie School Choruses, Latest Telegrams from Ladysmith; Kimberley, and Mafeking if any news yet through of the Big Battle Expected. REFRESHMENTS, PRESIDED OVER BY THE LADIES OF THE DISTRICT MAY BE OBTAINED AT A SMALL CHARGE. SPECIAL TRAINS from RICHMOND and WINDSOR, RETURNING AS FAR AS RIVEB STONE after the DEMONSTRATION CLOSES. Only One Priée, ls. Admission. Horses &amp; Vehicles Free. C. S. GUEST and CHARLES CHESTER, Hon. Secs.